Warrior shorts
by Strawberry the cat
Summary: Short stories about the warrior from Warrior cat Tales
1. Honeypaw's choice

Honeypaw flicked Badgerpaw's ear with her tail. "Don't feel bad. Featherfur only wants you to train longer because you were apprenticed early." Badgerpaw licked her ear. "Yes but now that Flowertail has moved into the elder's den, you are left without a mentor. You don't have to wait longer for me." Honeypaw purred, "I'm doing it because I want to be with you!" Badgerpaw got up and shook out his fur. "I'm going to eat," he declared. Then he stalked away. Honeypaw watched his tail disappear behind a fern before getting up and stretching. Stonestar's head popped out between the bushes. "I heard your little conversation. You have already completed your training and you are ready to become a warrior. However, if you do want to stay with Badgerpaw that much, I'll let you wait another two moons. But thats all. Maskkit, Flamekit, and Moonkit are nearly apprentices." Honeypaw nodded in understanding. "Good," Stonestar meowed, drawing back to have a word with Redfang. The grey and orange warrior said something urgently to the leader and they both headed out through the thorn barrier. Honeypaw was left wondering. "What are they up to now?" She thought aloud. Then, giving her chest fur a few licks, she padded over to the fresh kill pile to join Badgerpaw.


	2. Redfang's last moments

Redfang flanked Stonestar. "Where are we going?" The old leader grumbled. "To the lake," Redfang meowed calmly. The breeze ruffled his leader's fur. "Alright, but this better be quick, Redfang." The grey and orange tom grinned, his eyes lighting up. 'You'll be dead soon, old fool,' he thought. The thought of slaughtering Stonestar and laying out his entrails from Thunderclan to Windclan made his fur prickle with excitement. "How long do I have to walk?" Stonestar growled. "Almost there," Redfang reassured.

When they reached the lake, Stonestar collapsed in a heap. 'It'll be no fun killing him while he is weak,' Redfang decided. 'Let him recover his energy.' "Catch your breath," Redfang soothed. When the Thunderclan leader recovered from the long walk, he spat at Redfang. "Why couldn't you just tell me at camp!?" Shadow covered Redfang's eyes. "Because," he murmured. Stonestar growled. "Redfang, what is the meaning of this?" Redfang lifted his head. "Because." Stonestar snapped at him, "Because what!?" Redfang's eyes were laced with malice. "Because I'm going to kill you," he breathed. Stonestar's eyes widened. Before he could even say 'mouse', Redfang jumped at him. But Stonestar's fighting skills had not yet deserted him because he flicked his paw and sliced his claws over Redfang's left eye. Stonestar's attacker howled in pain. Redfang blinked the blood out of his eye but realized he could no longer see anything. Everything was a blur. "You tried to blind me?" Redfang's voice was dangerously quiet. His eyes narrowed and he resumed his attack on Stonestar. But the leader twisted around. Although this was a good evasive move, it also decided the leader's fate. Redfang quickly changed the direction of his jump by twisting his body in mid air. He landed on Stonestar's back and there was a loud cracking noise. Stonestar opened his jaws as if to say something but no words came out. Redfang growled. 'I have to do this before he dies,' he thought. He sliced one of his long claws over Stonestar's left eye. 'The other one,' he told himself. Then, he clawed Stonestar's right eye so hard that blood from the wound splattered more than a rabbit hop away. "You're dead, fool! Dead!" Redfang cackled. Suddenly, Redfang was knocked into the lake. He tried to resurface but a sharp rock stabbed him through the chest. Redfang choked. 'Great Starclan, is this the end?' He thought. His right eye widened. 'No! It can't be! After moons of planning and hatred, does it all end now?' Slowly, darkness began to envelope him until he could no longer see the light of the sun's glare reflecting off the lake.

Mistyeye breathed hard as she heard blood bubble in the water. 'I should of done this a long time ago,' the blind warrior thought numbly. Grabbing Stonestar's body gently by the scruff, she began to tow his body back to camp.


	3. Falling Ash's journey

Thunder Fox snarled. "Keep up!" Falling Ash and Flaming Leaf both mewled pitifully. Both of them were always abused by their mother, especially Flaming Leaf. Falling Ash shut her eyes tight. 'Please, ancestors in the stars, please free my brother and I from Thunder Fox,' she begged silently. Flaming Leaf had fallen over again. Thunder Fox cuffed him around the ear so hard that the wound bled. Flaming Leaf wailed but was quickly silenced by Thunder Fox's glare. Through the blurry sheet of snow, Falling Ash made out the faint outline of a cat. "Flying Jay!" Thunder Fox called. They all trod towards the figure. "This way!" The cat shouted. Thunder Fox abruptly turned left and disappear beneath the snowstorm. Flying Jay was also gone. Cautiously, Falling Ash put her paw where she last saw Thunder Fox. There was no cliff or hole where she could of fallen through. "Flaming Leaf," Falling Ash called softly. At once, a tiny body tumbled into Falling Ash's. "There you are," she murmured. In the storm, she could only make out Flaming Leaf's wide, scared eyes. "Let's find shelter," Falling Ash meowed determinedly. They began to stumble around aimlessly. Falling Ash narrowed her eyes. "Cave!" She called to Flaming Leaf. Although her brother was right beside her, she wanted to make sure he could hear over the loud rumbles of the snowstorm. Exhausted, they both let themselves tumble into the cave. Flaming Leaf was shivering but Falling Ash was too tired to drag herself to him to warm him up. "Flaming Leaf," she began. "I promise you, we will leave the mountains."

The next quarter moon, they had dragged themselves over the mountain and had reached a lake. Flaming Leaf, at five moons old, was mewling. "You have hunger pains too?" Falling Ash groaned. She picked up her little brother by the scruff and carried him down the moor. Flaming Leaf whined, "Please, Falling Ash! I want to eat." Falling Ash sighed. "Okay, let me find a place to put you down while I try to hunt."

After a few rabbit hops, she found a nice place by the stream to leave Flaming Leaf there to rest and wait. "Stay here," she ordered. Flaming Leaf looked up at his sister and nodded eagerly. Feeling a sense of security, she padded off in search for food.

After looking under every bush and leaf, Falling Ash found a fresh mouse buried at the stump of a tree. 'The cat who caught this must of discarded it,' Falling Ash concluded. Feeling satisfied, she picked up the mouse by the tail and began to make her way back to the stream.

Falling Ash stared at the empty spot in horror. Dropping her mouse, she began to look frantically for her brother. There was no blood, which meant he was not attacked. She lifted her head and begn to yowl in dispair. "Ancestors in the stars, I have failed you!" She cried. 'I must return to the mountains,' she decided. Numb with grief, she began to head back to the mountains.

When she returned to the mountains, she was instantly greeted by a cat in her gang. Swaying Branch was his name. "Thunder Fox is waiting for you and Flaming Leaf," he meowed. Falling Ash flinched at the mention of her brother's name. Swaying Branch lead her to a vast cave. Falling Ash was surprised when she saw that there was nothing in the cave. Had Swaying Branch lead her to the wrong place? "Follow me," Swaying Branch ordered, squeezing himself into a narrow tunnel. After crawling on their bellies for a few fox lengths, they arrived in a cavern even bigger than the one before. They recieved no greetings. Thunder Fox immediately stalked up to her daughter. "Where have you been?" She snarled. Falling Ash ducked her head low. Thunder Fox sighed, "I suppose that doesn't matter. Now that you are back, it is time for you to mate with the chief's only son, Swooping Falcon." Falling Ash was shocked out of her grief. "What!?" She shrieked. Thunder Fox snarled. "It is tradition! The first she cat who offers their first daughter to mate with the chief's son is the one who gets to be his mate! Flying Jay, Swaying Branch and Charging Stag all agreed to this marriage." It was no secret in the gang that Thunder Fox had mated with a lot of toms but to Falling Ash, this was news. Falling Ash staggered. "Never," she breathed. And with that, she turned around and stalked away.

**If you haven't already guessed, Flaming Leaf is Specklekit, the kit who was found in the forest by a Thunderclan patrol.**

**Spoiler Warning: Later a cat called Minty shows up in Willowsky's Success! (You can probably relate her to Mintpaw, the deceased medicine cat apprentice in Maskpaw's vengeance!)**

**-Strawberry**


End file.
